ACIDS AND BA SES (AHL)

Topic 18 – Acids and bases (AHL)

End of topic questions (page 410)
1. A; a buffer may be composed of a weak acid and its conjugate base, or a weak base and its
conjugate acid; ethanoic acid is a weak acid; to create a buffer with ethanoic acid, the addition of
strong base like sodium hydroxide will produce the conjugate base, the ethanoate ion;
2. C; reactions A and B – the absence of a weak acid means that these reactions will not result in
a buffer being produced; reaction C – the reaction between the weak base ammonia (in excess)
and the strong acid, hydrochloric acid, will result in the production of ammonium ions (NH+4 ) the
conjugate acid of the weak base ammonia; this combination of ammonia and ammonium ions
creates a buffer; reaction D – no buffer will be produced as the weak base ammonia must be in
excess when reacting with a strong acid to create a buffer;
3. A; the salt ammonium chloride ionizes to release ammonium ions (NH4+) and chloride ions (Cl-);
salts derived from a strong acid and a strong base do not react with hydrogen ions or hydroxide ions
and so will not undergo hydrolysis; the chloride ion (Cl-) has no affinity for hydrogen ions and will
not affect the pH of the solution; the ammonium ion, NH+4 is the conjugate acid of the weak base
ammonia, NH3; it will donate a proton in the reaction with water, forming the hydronium ion
(NH+4 (aq) + H2O(l) ⇋ NH3(aq) + H3O+(aq)), which will result in a decrease in pH;

the salt ammonium ethanoate is derived from the reaction between a weak acid (ethanoic acid) and
base (ammonia); it will undergo hydrolysis in water and the resulting pH of the aqueous solution is
dependent on the relative strengths of the acid and base; this salt forms a neutral aqueous solution
and no change in the pH is observed; the salt sodium ethanoate is derived from a strong base (sodium
hydroxide) and a weak acid (ethanoic acid); the ethanoate ions will undergo hydrolysis in water,
producing hydroxide ions (CH3COO-(aq) + H2O(l) ⇋ CH3COOH(aq) + OH-(aq)), which will result
in an increase in pH;
4. a) acidic and [Fe(H2O)6]3+ is a weak acid;
[Fe(H2O)6]3+ (aq) → [Fe(OH)(H2O)5]2+ (aq) + H+ (aq)
b) neutral and NaNO3(sodium nitrate) is formed from strong base and strong acid;
ions do not hydrolyze;
c) alkaline and CO32- is a weak base;
CO32- (aq) H2O(l) → HCO3- (aq) OH- (aq)
5. C; the equivalence point (or theoretical endpoint) is the point in an acid-base titration that
coincides with the addition of the exact chemical equivalence of acid and base; both hydrochloric
acid and ethanoic acid are mono-protic acids; when equal volumes and concentrations of
these acids is titrated with sodium hydroxide, the same volume of base is needed to reach the
equivalence point;
6. a) NH3 weak(er) base; partial dissociation;
[OH−] < 0.1(0)/pOH > 1 (thus pH < 13 / pH + pOH = 14);
b) around pH = 5;
s trong acid–weak base titration, thus acidic; at equivalence point, N​H +​4​ ​present is acidic;
N​H  +​4​ ​↔ NH3 + H+
c) NH3 (aq) + H2O (l) ↔ N​H  +​4​ ​(aq) + OH- (aq)
[N​H  +​4​ ​][OH-]
Kb = ​ __
    ​  
[NH3]
d) [NH3] = [N​H  +​4​ ​]

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 ACIDS AND BA SES (AHL)

e) pOH = 14.00 - 9.25 = 4.75

pKb (= pOH) = 4.75
Kb = 1.78 × 10-5
f) optimum/most effective/highest buffer capacity/50%–50% buffer/equally effective as an acidic
buffer and a basic buffer;
7. A; a Lewis acid is a lone pair acceptor and a Lewis base is a lone pair donor; boron forms three sp2
hybrid orbitals, resulting in a vacant unhybridized 2pz orbital; the lone pair of a Lewis base forms a
coordinate bond with the empty 2pz orbital of the boron atom;
8. A; ammonia is acting as a Lewis base, donating a pair of electrons;
9. D; a Brønsted–Lowry acid is a proton / hydrogen ion donor and a Brønsted–Lowry base is a
proton / hydrogen ion acceptor; a Lewis acid is a lone pair acceptor and a Lewis base is a lone
pair donor; in equations A, B and C, ammonia (B-L base), water (amphoteric) and the hydroxide
ion (B-L base) all react in accordance with the Brønsted–Lowry definition of acids and bases; in
equation D, the ammonia molecule is acting as a ligand, donating a pair of electrons to the partially
occupied d subshell of the chromium (III) ion, a transition element, forming a coordinate bond;
10. Brønsted-Lowry acid: proton donor; CH3COOH and H3O+
Lewis base: electron pair donor; H2O and CH3COO-;
11. a) donates a proton (H+ ion)
b) (acid) (conjugate base)
H2O OH-
NH4+ NH3
c) Lewis acid accepts an electron pair, while a Lewis base donates an electron pair;
F- is the base; BF3 is the acid;
12. a) a Lewis acid: electron pair acceptor; example: AlCl3, BF3 etc.;
b) structural formula of Lewis acid (e.g. BF3, AlCl3, transition element etc.); structural formula of
Lewis base (e.g. NH3, H2O etc.); structural formula of product (e.g. F3BNH3 etc.); dative covalent
(bond)/coordinate (bond);
F H F H

F B + N H F B N H

F H F H
Lewis acid Lewis base Product

13. A; the strength of an acid or base depends on the degree to which it ionizes or dissociates in water;
a weak acid dissociates partially in water; it is a poor proton donor; at equilibrium, only a small
proportion of the acid has dissociated; the conjugate base of a weak acid has a higher affinity for a
proton than does the conjugate base of a strong acid; we can determine the concentration of the
dissociated weak acid using the relationship between concentrations of reactants and products and
the equilibrium position; the stronger the acid, the greater the concentration of hydrogen ions in
solution at equilibrium; this corresponds to a larger Ka value;
14. C; pKw = 14.54 hence kw = 10-14.54 = 2.884 × 10-15
Kw = [H+][OH-] = x2
2.884 × 10-15 = x2
x = 2.884 × 10-15 = 5.370 × 10-8
[H+] = -log (5.370 × 10-8) = 7.27

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 ACIDS AND BA SES (AHL)

K
15. C; if Kw = KaKb then Kb = _
​  w ​ 
Ka
16. D; NH3(aq) + H2O(l) ↔ NH4+(aq) + OH-(aq)
for an aqueous reaction, the concentration of water does not appear in the expression as the
[NH+4 ][OH-]
__
concentration does not change during the reaction, therefore, Kb = ​     ​  
[NH3]
- 2
[OH ]
17. Kb = _ ​  = 10-4.75 = 1.78 × 10-5
 ​ 
 
[NH]3
——————————
[OH]- =​   √1.00
  
  × 10-2 × 10-4.75 ​ = 4.22 × 10-4 mol dm-3; pOH = -log10 (4.22 × 10-4) = 3.37
1.00
[H]+ = ​ __
  
   × 10-14 ​ = 2.37 × 10-11
4.22 × 10-4
pH = 14 - 3.37 =10.6;
18. a) strong acid completely dissociated(ionized) and weak acid partially dissociated (ionized);
HNO3(aq) → H+(aq) + NO3-(aq)
HCN(aq) ⇋ H+(aq) + CN-(aq)
[H+][CN-]
b) Ka = _
​   ​  
[HCN]
Ka = 10-9.21 = 6.17 × 10-10
————   ———————————
c) [H+] =​   √k  a[HCN] ​/ 
√  
   
​    (6.17 × 10-10 × 0.108) ​ = 8.16 × 10-6
pH = 5.09;
or
​  1 ​  (pKa - log[HCN]) / _
pH = _ ​ 1 ​  (9.21 - log 0.108) = 5.09
2 2
[H+] = 10-5.09 = 8.16 × 10-6 assume [H+] << 0.108; negligible dissociation;
1.00
19. a) [H+] = ​ __
  
   × 10-14 ​ = 7.81 × 10-12 mol dm-3
1.28 × 10-3
pOH = -log1.28 × 10-3 = 2.90
pH = (14.0 - 2.90) = 11.1
[NH4+][OH-] __ (1.28 × 10-3)2 __
(1.28 × 10-3)2
b) Kb = __
​     ​ = ​   
   ​ / ​     ​  = 1.66 × 10-5
[NH3] 0.100-0.00128 0.100
20. A; the addition of hydroxide ions to an acid-base indicator solution will result in a reaction
between the hydroxide ions and hydrogen ions; this decrease in [H+] will result in the equilibrium
shifting to the right (products side) and more color B being seen;
21. A; this is an example of a titration of a weak base with a strong acid; the nitrate ion, NO-3 is the
conjugate base of the strong acid nitric acid (HNO3) and has almost no affinity for hydrogen ions;
the formation of the hydronium ion in the reaction between ethylamine and nitric acid is the
result of salt hydrolysis; the equivalence point (pH < 7) means that bromophenol blue is the most
appropriate indicator;
22. C; this question is identical in concept to question 5 and the same logic applies - refer to that
explanation.

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